RONNY A. VARGAS

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       Ever since they announced the news about the acqua phenomenon or what experts refer to the scarcity of water in various parts of the world, the residents of the town of Santa Rosalía, Colombia, had sought after her. Many believed she might be able to tell them what was truly happening, thanks to her clairvoyant abilities. Everyone respected her, and some even believed she could see things others could not.

       At age forty-eight, she seemed full of luck, helping deliver winning lottery numbers into the hands of thrilled customers. She also read tarot cards and talked to the dead. She lived a solitary life in an unassuming house near an old wooden bridge over the Meta River. She liked her solitude, staying away from the town, and having no direct interaction with the residents.

       Her best friend, Teresa Martínez, kept her up to date with all the town gossip, often gathered directly from the mouths of the resident farm workers. This helped when one of them appeared at the door, entered the living room, and sought her help. She would then read their palms and tell them what she already knew. Using this technique, they became her loyal customers.

       In the photo on her promotional flyers, she wore a bandana with her favorite number–seven–while her jet-black hair flowed long and curly from beneath it, matching her long-polished nails, illuminated atop her smoke-filled crystal ball. The flyer read, “Lorenica The Mystical Queen.” Her flyers were posted everywhere in town–on the street lights, on the supermarket doors, and on the walls of municipal buildings.

       The exception was the church doors because Lorenica, despite her powers, was a believer. She had images of saints in her living room, along with candles which remained lit to ward off any bad vibes. She even kept a glass of holy water behind the door so no demon would enter her home. There was no need to list her address, for everyone already knew where Lorenica lived. If a new resident required her help, they only had to ask for the whereabouts of the Mystical Queen.

       In recent days, her clientele had grown, a result of the water crisis. Now, she only accepted clients by appointment.

       People would ring the bell at her house gate. She opened it by remote control. She then invited them into her room through the crystal glass bead curtain.

       If her client was a woman, she talked tough and straightforward. If it was a man, she would come to greet them, moving her hips to hypnotize them, the same movements she used twenty years ago as a prostitute in Medellin. Lorenica was still working on her own, but now she didn't take her clothes off to earn money. She only undressed if the man was of her taste–tall and dark with impeccable manners. It mattered not to her if they were married.

       One morning, Teresa asked a favor of her friend. She had been dating Sandra Milena, a woman considerably younger, for quite some time. Teresa liked her very much because she dressed as a man, but Teresa was married to Juan, a man with no idea how to make a woman happy in bed. Teresa did not know how to tell him about Sandra without breaking his heart, although several in the town already knew of the affair. Finally, she convinced her husband to make an appointment with Lorenica while she spent a weekend with her lover in Medellin.

       The man arrived on a horse. He tied it to the gate. Lorenica received him with an embrace of hypocrisy, read his hand, and told him, “There is someone else in your relationship. But I can't see the face very well. Let me check with my crystal ball.”

        “Are you sure, my friend?” the man asked, surprised.

       Lorenica closed her eyes, moving her hands in circles over the crystal ball. After a few seconds of effecting buzzing sounds with her mouth, she told him the truth, “It is a woman; the woman who went with Teresa to Medellin.”

        “You know what, the town gossips had already told me,” he exclaimed, “but I didn’t want to believe it. What a disgrace!” His face was filled with sorrow. “Following this, the news about the aqua phenomenon everywhere . . . It adds to my sadness, you know? It must be a divine sign, my friend.”

        “Well, nothing to do there, my friend. Drink a few beers and don’t give up. Nothing has happened yet.”

       Juan headed back to Santa Rosalía on his horse, but he didn’t even make it past the bridge. They found him the next morning, hanging from a bridge beam with the cattle rope around his neck. The horse was patiently waiting on the bridge with a note attached to the saddle. It had obviously been written with trembling hands: “I saw what I had to see and I decided to go first.”

       Two days later, Lorenica and Teresa were discussing what happened.

        “This is not good! Why did he kill himself?” Lorenica asked her friend.

        “Well. What happened . . . happened. There is nothing we can do about it.”

        “To add to that, I saw him in a dream last night,” added Lorenica. “I saw him clearly walking towards me. He was moving his lips . . . wanting to speak to me.”

        “Oh, my God!” exclaimed Teresa. “Say a prayer tonight before you go to bed. I hope he doesn’t show up here.”

        That same night, there were no clouds in the sky and the moon shone pale in fear. A noise in the room woke Lorenica. She looked out the window and saw Juan’s horse tied to the gate. She walked out of her room in her nightgown. Shocked, she saw the deceased seated at her table in front of the crystal ball, the bruises still around his neck.

        “Oh . . . my God!” Lorenica gritted her teeth.

        “Don’t be afraid, my friend. I only came so you can see what I see. Come closer,” said the figure.

        “Have peace, my friend, have peace,” Lorenica implored.

        “Peace I already have. I have learned that one of the advantages of being dead is one knows things others don’t. I know the reason the water sources are drying up.

       Everybody is going to have a tough time, my friend. Look, so you can warn your customers.” Juan’s ghost then laid its hands on the crystal ball so Lorenica could see into the future, all that was going to happen as a result of the aqua phenomenon.

       She witnessed many horrifying things–she saw people killing one another for a glass of water. She observed chaos in cities and people dying of thirst. Finally, she witnessed her own death, a fact which left her puzzled.

       The next morning, she was found hanging from the bridge beam with Juan’s cattle rope around her neck. The horse was patiently waiting on the bridge with a note attached to the saddle. It had obviously been written with trembling hands, “I saw what I had to see and I decided to go first.”